This chart illustrates how commonly and how strongly the wind blows from different directions through a typical December. The biggest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue suggests the strength, with deep blue strongest. It is based on 2705 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2006, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Ilha do Farol, located 12 km away (7 miles). There are insufficient recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. No doubt some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3.

According to the model, the prevailing wind at Ilha do Farol blows from the S. If the rose plot shows a nearly round shape, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Ilha do Farol. On the other hand, dominant spokes show favoured directions, and the more the darkest shade of blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. Over an average December, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (light blue) about 0.6% of the time (0 days each December) and blows offshore just 1.0% of the time (0 days in an average December). During a typical December wind stronger than >40kph (25mph) was predicted for only a single days at Ilha do Farol

IMPORTANT: Beta version feature! Swell heights are open water values from NWW3. There is no attempt to model near-shore effects. Coastal wave heights will generally be less, especially if the break does not have unobstructed exposure to the open ocean.